In It to Win It by Morgan Kearns Page A

Molly.”
    “ Hi,” he said, waving a chubby hand. He pointed a finger at Jane. “Which one are you?”
    “ I’m Jane.”
    Molly bent down, nearly toppling her party supplies all over the ground. “And I’m Molly. Can you help us put all this stuff up?”
    “ Oh, yeah!” He grabbed at a bag and hurried inside, dragging it behind him as he ran. He paused and turned around, waving at them. “Come on. Hurry.”
    Kate laughed and looked lovingly at her son. “I think he likes you.”
    It didn’t take long to get the decorations up. Molly was a wiz with the helium tank that Rich had gotten and Jesse, perched on Rich’s shoulders, made quick work of putting up the happy birthday banners. Jane had to remind herself not to stare at Rich, but couldn’t seem to help herself.
    Jesse looked nothing like his father. Rich, who was dressed just as his son, was so tender with the little boy. It was nice to see a man who adored his son … especially when the son was so obviously not his, biologically speaking.
    “ So Jesse?” Jane asked when the two caught her looking at them. “How old are you?”
    He looked down at his fingers, concentration on his face. The digits wiggled in the air, his lip between his teeth. Finally he held up four fingers. “I’m four. I go to preschool. My teacher is Miss Hailey. I can write my name. Wanna see?”
    He didn’t wait for a response; running out of the room to fetch what Jane assumed would be paper and something to write with.
    He came back with a piece of white paper and a purple crayon. He plopped down on the floor and pressed the crayon to the page. His brows pinched together and his tongue stuck out the side of his mouth. The letters formed slowly, but they were legible. After he’d written his name Jane and Molly clapped.
    “ That’s awesome,” Jane told him.
    He beamed and asked, “Can you write your name?”
    “ I can.” She nodded, falling in love with him.
    The first of the guests began to arrive; Roxy’s parents, her brother and his wife, Jordan and Olivia. There were a few people she didn’t know, but Kate—or Rich—did and made the introductions.
    Rich pulled his phone out of his pocket and looked at the display. “They’re coming around the corner. Places everybody.”
    Everybody raced around like chickens with their heads cut off. There weren’t enough places to hide. Most of the people crammed into the kitchen or into the living room where they couldn’t be seen from the front door.
    There was a soft knock, followed by an insistent bell ringing that reminded Jane of Clayton’s persistence. Jane heard the click of the door opening and a little girl with blond curls ran in. She was younger than Jesse, but Jane guessed by only a year or so. Her dress was red and was like overalls with straps that came up over her shoulders. She had a white blouse underneath with white tights. Her black patent leather shoes clomped as she raced in … only to stop abruptly when she saw all the people.
    Her face crinkled, her bottom lip started to quiver and then her mouth opened to allow the bwaaaa! to escape. “Mommy!” she screamed, turning on her heel to run back in the direction of her mother.
    Jane couldn’t see the entryway from her vantage point, but she could hear Roxy’s voice say, “It’s okay, baby. What’s wrong?”
    Roxy rounded the corner, the little girl with arms and legs wrapped firmly around her like a backpack fastened to her side, and when shouts of “surprise!” rang out, her reaction was surprisingly similar to that of her daughter’s; her eyes filled with tears and her hand moved up to her mouth as her lip started to quiver. She murmured a soft, “Oh, Nate.”
    Nate plied the miniature Roxy from her mother and held the little girl tight against his shoulder. Nate’s eyes scoured the crowed and when he finally spotted Jane, he flashed a smile and nodded slightly. Now that Jane had been given her kudos, Nate turned his full attention back to